Sagacious Awakening
by Ma07h3n
Summary: During the one month break at the Chuunin Exam small divergences happen leading Jiraiya to take a different approach on how to train Naruto in harvesting the Fox's chakra. The result is a Naruto with horizontal slits in his eyes, instead of vertical ones.


**Disclaimer: Naruto is not my own, if it was I'd give it to Oda so he could fix all the plot holes and make the plot twists actually beliavable, I'd tell him to leave the story alone because that at least isn't so bad. For anyone who doesn't yet know (**why are you reading a Naruto fic btw?**) Naruto belongs to Shueisha Inc. and to the older one of the Kishimoto Twins.**

**AN: This idea came to mind while I was reading a Time Travel fic in which Naruto couldn't use Sage Mode because he reverted back to his preadolescent body. Since I couldn't find any fic where Naruto learned Sage Mode before the timeskip, I started to imagine what it would be like if he figured out how to make Sage Chakra at some point during the first half of the series and this is the end result. I chose the 1 month training period of the Chuunin Exam mainly because it really ticked me off that Jiraiya wasted 26 days(30 days minus 1 day to learn water-walking and 3 days sleeping) waiting for Naruto to get the Summoning Jutsu right before trying to make him access the Kyuubi's chakra. **

**AN1: I used no betas other than the merrian-webster dictionary and my memories of grammar from english school, so please forgive any atrocious mistakes I might have made.**

**10/18/11 - Added an actual fighting sequence for Neji vs Naruto instead of just explaining how they fought.**

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><p>Naruto couldn't believe what he had just seen, in the blink of an eye the closet-pervert, who Kakashi-sensei assured him was an elite instructor, went from lecturing the old peeping tom to lying unconscious on the floor at the feet of an incredibly big frog.<p>

"Oi! You old creep, what do you think you are doing?" he asked once recovered from the bewilderment he felt from witnessing the overwhelming defeat suffered by his provisory teacher "I was getting training from the closet-pervert and now he can't help me anymore. What are you gonna do about it, eh, you open-pervert?".

"Closet-pervert? Do about it? Open-pervert?" said the white haired man while looking around "Are you talking to me brat?".

"Course I am, do you see any other creepy old man peeking at the women's bath?".

"Creepy old man..." Naruto heard in a suddenly deadly tone, which changed again to a cheery one once the older man started his speech "I'll let you know brat that I am Myobokuzan's Monk of the Toad Spirits, also known as the Toad Sage, the great Jiraiya-sama!".

"Aw, I get it now" and for a brief moment the most boisterous of the Sannin looked really pleased with himself "so that means that guy is a toad and not a frog, good to know.".

"That's all you have to say about my amazing presentation?"

"Well that and that clearly I was mistaken about thinking you were an open-pervert when you are actually a pervert-sage(Ero-sennin).".

-This brat is starting to seriously piss me off- thought Jiraiya while facepalming himself, however before a comeback could leave his mouth the blond's was already moving once again.

"Anyway Ero-sennin, since you knocked my sensei out you gotta train me in his place now.".

"What kind of logic is that? I'm in the middle of my research, why the heck should I be forced to stop and help you just because I beat someone that attacked me when I was just going about my own business, eh?".

"Hokage-jiji always said that if we break something we gotta replace it. You broke my sensei, so you have to get me a new one.".

- Crap, this kid is close to Sarutobi-sensei. If that old geezer gets hold that I am in town I'll never have a moment of peace- thought the Sannin in the midst of sighing "Fine brat, I'll help with your training. What is it that you were supposed to be learning?".

"Can't you see that the closet-pervert was trying to teach me how to walk on water?" he said while stomping his feet down "Are you freaking blind?".

"Apparently I'm as blind as you are smart" responded Jiraiya, because for the whole time the both of them had been talking the genin was flawlessly standing on top of the thermal font "Whats wrong with what you are doing right now?".

"Huh?" was the only word uttered by the blond before he looked down and was immediately swallowed by the fervent body of water under him. Once Naruto found himself on land again he started to remove his clothes in order to hang them to dry, allowing the older ninja to see not only the Eight Divination Signs Seal on his stomach -So that's what's been keeping the Kyuubi chained up all these years-, but also the Five Elements Seal placed on top of it -Impressive, he was able to instinctively master water-walking despite the fact that his chakra is being disrupted by the conflicting nature of those seals. I wonder if thats due to how superior Minato's work is when compared to regular seals, by how poor of a job whoever did the second seal did or to just how talented this kid is deep down. Well, only one way to find out...-.

"Hey kid! Why are you so desperate to find someone to train you anyway?".

"Because if I don't I'll get my ass handed to me at my first fight on the last part of the Chuunin Exam. And I could never forgive myself if I lost to that white-eyed jerk."

"Who'd have thought that a shrimp like you would be at the finals this year" not giving any chance for a reply the white man continued talking making the blond forget what he was about to say "Fine, I'll train you, meet me here tomorrow morning, however if you are not here by 6 o'clock don't even bother showing up" and with one hand gesture so fast that Naruto wasn't able to dicern it, he was gone amidst a whirlwind.

The next rising sun found Naruto pratically sleeping on his feet at the exact place he had parted ways with whom he hoped would become his sensei for the next month. It was an actual sleeping while standing Naruto that greeted Jiraiya's view once he arrived at 6 AM, to which he responded by waking the blond up the most efficient way he knew of, with water. Since there was not an ounce of cold water at their surroundings and he himself didn't want to get wet, Jiraiya proceeded to toss the snoring youth at the fuming water of the font.

The resulting yell and the cussing that followed it were so amusing that Jiraiya even forgot to dodge the punches and kicks the genin threw his way, once he had got out of the water. After both parties had calmed down, Jiraiya guided the younger ninja through the forest to the base of a waterfall, where he showed him the handseals necessary to perform the first jutsu they'd be working on and made the boy repeat the sequence progressively faster until it became second nature to him.

"Okay, that's good enough. This jutsu is different than most, just knowing the handseals and molding chakra isn't enough for it to work. You also have to sign this" said the white-haired man while he positioned a rolling scroll in front of him.

"Fine, fine... do you have ink with you Ero-sennin? Because I didn't bring any."

"Yes I do, but that's beside the point, your signature in this contract got to be written in blood for the jutsu to work.".

"What?" said a suddenly wide-eyed Naruto "Why the heck should i need to write anything with my blood? Specially since I have no idea what this jutsu even does.".

"I thought you'd have figured it out by now"-I've clearly been expecting too much from him, being able to overcome the disability created by Orochimaru's sealing probably had nothing to do with his talent afterall- was what was running through the Sannin's head at that time, for he had recognized his old teammate's handiwork soon after leaving the blond the previous day "The jutsu I showed you is the Summoning Jutsu and this is a summoning contract to the toads of Myoubokuzan, which will allow you to call for their help the same way that I do.".

"Why didn't you say that sooner" left the now excited genin's mouth rigth before he bite his thumb and wrote down on the scroll something that could be read as Uzumaki Naruto if one was not being too judgmental about it "So now all that is left to do is try it out" Naruto said finishing the handseal sequence at the same time he ended the sentence and slamming his hand down.

What followed was not only the most embarassing moment of Naruto's career as a ninja but also the poorest attempt at summoning Jiraiya had ever seen, because as soon as the smoke created dispelled an egg with a tadpole inside could be seen under the genin's hand. A sigh scaped the older ninja's mouth at the same time an indignant face took over the younger's features, followed by several yelled complaints. Seeing that his pupil was giving the jutsu a second try, Jiraiya figured that it would be futile as long as the hindering seal wasn't removed, being proved correct once the boy summoned another tadpole, even though it was a hatched one this time.

At the first notice of movent from the tantrum the genin was about to throw Jiraiya struck him in the gut with the Five Element Unsealing Jutsu, making all the air leave his body and leaving him doubled over and coughing "What was that for Ero-sennin?".

Ignoring the glare he was now receiving the Sannin replied saying "That was just a way to help your chakra circulate easier. C'mon, give the summoning another try.".

Doing just that, Naruto was happily surprised to find an actual toad instead of a tadpole once the smoke cleared, even though it still had a small protuberance where its tail used to be. Unfortunatelly in Jiraiya's opinion that was not even close to good enough, sure it was amazing progress but there was no way that it could have any battle application.

"Listen kid, it seems your chakra isn't mature enough for this jutsu to be useful in battle, maybe if you creamed almost all of your chakra in it you would end up with a decent summon, but the way you are now if you did that it would be the same as lying down and letting the other genin trample over you.".

"Aw, c'mon Ero-sennin, let me give it a few more tries, I know i can get it right soon".

"Don't even bother" Jiraiya said hastly since the blond had already started forming the handseals for another try "If you are able to complete this next exercise, you should be able to summon any toad you want".

"For real?".

"Yes, for real.".

"Okay what do I have to do".

"First of all, have you ever noticed a different type of chakra in your body?".

What followed was a somewhat complex and time consuming conversation about the yellow and red chakras that Naruto possesed, how had he accessed the second one before and how should he go about to be able to use it at will, leading him into making and destroying several armys of shadow clones until he could not feel a single drop of his original chakra in his system and sitting cross-legged on top of a rock near the waterfall trying to find the source of the red chakra in his body.

Hours later, when the sun was high on the sky, symbolizing that the morning was almost over, one motionless boy and a perverted old man could still be found at one of the waterfalls at the outskirts of Konoha. The young ninja's patience that was usually barely existing had proven itself as stuborn as its owner allowing the blond meditate as instructed, however not once had he felt even the slightest signal of his so called second chakra. The recurring failure together with his sensei antics finally broke Naruto's resolve though and he allowed himself to finally open his eyes and uncross his legs.

"This is pointless, all I've been doing here is sitting still while you giggle and look through those bushes. Teach me something else Ero-sennin.".

"Just shut up and go back to meditating, until you get that right I'm not teaching you anything else.".

"Fine I give up. If you are not gonna help me anymore, I'll just go back to Konoha and keep trying to get the Summoning Jutsu right." the blond said before getting up and starting to walk away. Suddenly Naruto felt a jerking motion originating from the collar of his jumpsuit, just to find himself skipping through the surface of the river and hitting the base of the waterfall the next second.

"Are you freaking out of your mind Ero-sennin!" said the young ninja while crouching and later standing at the surface of the water "You could have killed me!".

"A loud-mouthed weakling like you, that's willing to quit at the first sign of struggle has no place being a ninja" said the Toad Sage "I'll save you the shame of being pulverized at the finals by putting you out of your misery right now.".

Without another word the older man disappeared from the blond's sight, only reappearing in the boy's awereness after he was already moving upward in an arch with a dull ache in his jaw and an almost nonexistent grasp on his consciousness both resulting from the vertical kick just delivered by the white haired man. Before he could even begin to manouver his body in order to manage a proper landing, he was backhanded by the shadow that was suddenly above him, being sent flying into a tree.

"You bastard" was all Naruto could pronounce between the mouthfuls of blood he was coughing, but despite the fact that his eyesight was getting blurry he could still see the figure of his temporary sensei and soon to be murderer walking slowly towards him with a blue circular light emanating from his right hand, which was raised at the level of Naruto's chest. Putting all his hopes in one last-ditch effort, Naruto used the combination of his trade mark jutsu and his own original creation, running for his life back to the city as soon as all his clones dispelled.

Less than a second later Jiraiya sat back up and looked at the direction his new pupil had fled to -Well there goes the [Scare the crap out of the kid 'till he uses the fox chakra] plan- he thought while cleaning the blood that had run down his nose from his face -Maybe I should have thrown him off that cliff afterall-.

Anyone walking at the florest near the hotsprings that afternoon would be able to hear a sobbing voice echoing in the trees saying "Stupid old pervert! I'll show him! I'll summon a toad way bigger than his and make it jump on him... no, better yet! I'll tell it to spit on him and then squash him. Yeah, that will show him who's weak.".

When Naruto regained his senses he found himself at the top of Hokage Monument facing the city bellow. Being calmer now, the genin realized that he shouldn't have blown up like he did, afterall it had taken him hours of hard work to get the Shadow Clones Jutsu and tree-walking right, just because he had an easy time learning water-waling and summoning didn't mean that from now on everything would be handed to him in a silver platter.

The problem he was having the task at hand was that everytime he felt anything different while meditating something would distract him, usually the Ero-sennin himself. Sighing he sat on top of Nidaime's stone head assuming his previously instructed position and closed his eyes, sinking deeper in his mind. Without any distractions surrounding him Naruto finally was able to concentrate all of his being into sensing his red chakra. What he found however astound him, for in his whole body he could feel his yellow chakra circularing barely under his skin, leaking in a few places and pooling at others.

After taking a deep breath, not realizing he had been holding it, Naruto focused harder, noticing two things at the same time, the first being that the air around him itself seemed to have some sort of chakra in it, wellnot chakra per se but an energy of some kind, and the second being that in the middle of his body there was a small point where his chakra wasn't exactly yellow but actually a somewhat orange color. More curious now about this new found energy that surrounded everything than about his second chakra, that he now knew where to find, Naruto tried to reach it with his own chakra. Saying that what happened surprised him would be an understatement, as soon as his chakra touched the energy, instead of pushing against it like it was doing before, they started to merge, the connective point working as a funnel through which the energy rapidly invaded Naruto's chakra system, startling him and making him break the connection.

What Naruto didn't expect to see once his eyes jerked open from the surprise was the rather slimy appearance his right hand had taken nor the change of color that accompanied it. He tried moving it, shaking it, punching it at the ground, even stepping on it but nothing seemed to make his hand change back to normal, what was worse the transformation was spreading. By the time he realized that the hand where it all started was the point where the strange energy had entered his body his whole arm was already looking like a toad's. As soon as the epiphany hit him though, Naruto stopped moving and closed his eyes, he could feel how his whole chakra had changed, but most importantly he could feel how on that particular arm it now was no longer chakra, it felt like the energy itself.

He knew he had to get it out of him somehow, it was not like he could just reverse what he did before when it got inside of his body, but maybe he could spend it the same way he did with his chakra earlier that day. Forming a now weird looking handseal, Naruto opened his eyes and poured as much chakra as he could into making several shadow clones. At first the clone's arms looked exactly like his, not only that but their eyes looked toad like as well and had an orange marking around them, soon however the arms changed back to normal though the eyes did not.

No longer freaking out about his toad transformation, Naruto noticed that more than just seeing his shadow clones he was sensing then, even more amazing was that he could sense the whole population of Konoha underneath him.

"Wow"one of the clones said a second before the original himself could.

"Yeah, this is freaking awesome! I wonder what else I can do like this"

"Only one way to find out Boss" said right before all clones jumped the original in what turned to be a fight simulation, at the beginning of which the orange markings started to fade away much to Naruto's disappointment, only to reapper, together with his enthusiasm, as soon as one of his shadow clones was dispelled, this process repeating itself a few times during the skirmish.

The subsequent days were unlike anything Naruto had ever experienced in his life. The dusk of everyday in the week that followed his surprising discovery, for instance, met the genin completely exhausted but with a huge smile on his face at his new favorite training place on top the Hokage Monument, the reason behind such display of utter joy was that from dawn to that moment each day he would do nothing but trying his best at mastering "Super Toad Form", which though extremely difficult had proven to be way more fun than any training he'd done before.

Throughout the remanining days of the break there was nothing that distracted the young ninja from his new goals, well almost nothing, for during several moments he was able to sense someone being inside his house and it really annoyed him. The first time it happened he had just started his training session when one of his clones noticed that a quick blur was making it's way through the village, which though not unusual due to it being the home of ninjas was strange at such an early hour, specially since it wasn't following the ANBU perimeter sweeps the boy had gotten used to. What really draw the attention of the clone to said presence instead of dismissing it as he did the others was where it stopped, because it's final destination was the old building complex where Naruto's apartment was located.

The distraction was enough to allow said clone to be dispelled easier than the others, which in turn allowed the information to be shared with the remaining ones and the original. Not being the kind of person to ignore someone invading his personal space, Naruto ordered one of his clones to find out who was doing it and with what purpose. Who his clone find out at his place was the reason why now everytime he felt someone even approach his home the only thing he could concentrate on was how mad he was at Jiraiya for forcing him to camp instead of going home everynight, since apparently the old pervert wanted to talk to him so bad that he had resorted to spending most of his time inside his not-so-much-of-a-student-anymore's house.

Which is why even though Naruto was happy and excited he had a sour look on his face while standing alongside most of the other genins that were taking part in the tournament while the new proctor explained the rules to the audience and introduced them. He was a little surprised to learn that the fighting grid had been changed die to one genin forfeiting, however since it changed nothing concerning his fights by the time the genins other than him and Neji were exiting the arena he had already forgoten everything about it.

"Looks like there's something you'd like to say.".

"I told you before" said the rookie genin while raising his hand and making a fist in the direction of his veteran "I'm definitely taking you down.".

"Now for the first match: Hyuuga Neji vs Uzumaki Naruto; BEGIN!"

With a smirk on his face and his doujutsu active Neji could not stop himself from trowing one more taunt at his overly confident opponent "It will be amusing to see doubt grow in your eyes while I progressively crush the make believe reality you've been living in.".

"Enough talking, fight me already" and with this last statement Naruto rushed to form the handsign of his signature jutsu, creating sixteen shadow clones in front of him.

"You guys know what to do" he called while retreating to sit himself under one of the trees in the edge of the arena. The clones had barely heard their creator's first word and they were already charging at Neji intending to buy as much time as they could.

Naruto didn't enjoy having to fight like this one bit, he much more preferred being in the melee, but he knew the other boy was better than him at hand to hand combat, maybe the shadow clones could make a difference and tilt the battle in his favor but he would not take a chance or be stuborn in this specific fight, it was to important, he had something to prove to the village, for bushy-brows', for Hinata's and even for his own sake. So to make sure he'd win, the young genin was bringing his trump card out early in the tournament, Sasuke wasn't around anyway so his next opponent would not learn what everyone else in the stadium would right now, for he was sure that Sasuke would beat that creepy redhead.

During his training in order to make use of both his newfound ability and his signature justsu Naruto came up with a new meditation pose, since almost transforming into a toad everytime was risky, what if he was too late to disperse the chakra and could not turn back. It was in this new pose, in which his right elbow was resting in right knee while that leg was bent upward and his left elbow was resting on his other leg that was crossed indian style allowing him to make the shadow clone's handsign while staying static, that Naruto started to gather what he had found out was called Natural Energy.

By the time he had succeeded, his clones were almost all already gone. Neji had successfully dodge all of their attacks by a hair's breadth, striking through their guard when able or simply making them crash against one another, reason why the two remaining ones were giving each other a wide area to manouver. At the same time that Naruto created four shadow clones in Sage Mode his two last normal clones advanced against the white eyed boy. The closer one went for a rotating kick aimed at the genin's head while the ther one waited for the second the boy started to duck to start a sliding tackle in his direction. Their strategy was solid and well coordinated having a high chance of working agains most of the other genins present, however against Neji it was futile, thanks to his Byakugan he was able to see it coming and immidiately did a low jump while grabbing the sliding clone's forward leg and thowing him against the one that was just landing.

Once he himself had landed again Neji turned to look at the where the real body of his opponent was, just to find four more clones running towards him with their bodies in a half crouch -These clones are trully annoying since they are identical to the real one but it's not like I need to deal with them, specially since the real body is in plain sight- he thought before saying "It seems you are worse than I originally assessed since even simple math is beyond your grasp. I just finished four times this number of clones, you really think this much will be efective?"

Not wanting to waste anymore time the older genin also started to run, aiming for the closest of the advancing clones. Once within range he thrusted his open fist on its direction, just to perform a half step sideways and bypass the clone, changing directions and aiming now for the original, sure that with the amount of speed and agility the clones he fought earlier had displayed it was impossible for him to be imagine his surprise once not only one of the clones obstructed his path making him halt for a fraction of a second, but the one he had just left behind grabbed his arm and jerked him backwards, making it necessary that he performed a cartwheel.

Once standing his ground again Neji finally noticed that though also shadow clones these four that were now surrounding him were diferent than the ones he had fought previously, for not only the chakra circulating inside of them seemed different but it was also coating their bodies with thick layer. He had no time to pounder what these changes meant other than the fact that their reaction time and agility had improved because soon one of the clones had already charged at him with his fist cocked back, aiming to punch him on the face. A punch that he found himself dodging by a hair's breadth just like all the many others the copies of the blond genin had aimed at him throughout this fight, however this time instead of striking back now that the clone guard was open he found himself being thrown in the air.

"You shouldn't underestimate us" said two of the clones, which were now performing synchronic dropping kicks towards Neji's torso, both which missed by a large margin once he twisted himself sideways, though for some reason Neji still felt as though he had been grazed.

The first and second clones were upon him as soon as he readied his stance, but this time the long haired ninja made to sure to dodge the attacks with as much room between them as possible, finally starting to realize, through a few more close calls, that these new clones' range wasn't dependent on their physical body but on the coating of chakra surrounding them. Once this epiphany hit him the tide of the battle changed once again for Neji destroyed the two clones attacking him before the others could join the rumble and then took his new assessment of the rookie's ability to dispell the closest one and bypass the remaining clone, charging once again at the original, this time without any hindrance.

His finger thrust was almost making contact with Naruto's forehead when something cold and wet wrapped itself around his striking arm stopping the attack. The sight that met Neji's eyes once he followed the direction of this thing that thwarted his victory was that of a no longer coated with chakra shadow clone standing on top a five feet tall blue with green markings toad, whose mouth was open so that it could use its tongue to do what the clone couldn't manage in time, protect the original. Unknown to anyone other than Naruto it was this same toad, whose name was Kosutsuki, that explained to him the origin and the real name of Sage Mode during his training when he decided to try the summoning jutsu after gathering what he now knew was called Natural Energy.

The newcomer to the fight took advantage of the unbalanced position the older genin found himself into at the moment to pull him with its tongue with all its might, throwing him against the stadium wall. In the time that took the toad to make that decision though, Naruto had opened his eyes and met the white orbs of the boy in front of him. While being whirled in the air Neji could hear the blond saying "Told you not to underestimate me, bastard.".

Thanks to his year of training with Gai, Neji was able to come out of the crash with just minor injuries, having had time to adjust himself for the impact. It seemes however that the blonde was not about to give him enough time to breath, because as soon as he was standing the clone was already performing a circular kick. Without the coating to increase the clone efficiency though Neji had no dificulty countering the attack and dispelling the last remaining clone, unfortunatelly for prodigy he only realized that the clone was a distraction once both the original and a huge ball of liquid, for he hadn't heard the toad shouting "Ninpo: Toad Oil Bullet", were already closing in on him.

Twice now in the matter of a few minutes two genin that were sure that victory was just a second away had their certainty crushed, because with his feet planted firmily at the floor Neji was able to initiate his Heavenly Spin, which proved to redirect the strengh of someone using sage chakra more potently than of someone using only a physical attack. This new development resulted in Naruto, no longer in Sage Mode and now alone for Kosutsuki disappeared right after using his justu, having to get up rather fast, since the examiner almost declared that he was unconscious, after hitting the floor extemely hard.

"This is the end. You are within the range of my Eight Trigrams. Jukenpo: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Strikes".

It was sheer stubbornness that allowed Naruto to get up once more, even after Neji explained to him that he had closed his sixty four chakra openings. This irritated the older genin to an extent that he started to discourse about his past and the customs of the Hyuuga clan. Only to utter though clenched teeth "I intend to finish him off with my next attack if he doesn't surrender right now" once the blond dismissed everything he had just told him and all the spectators.

"Bring it on fate-boy" left the blond's mouth before he once more closed his eyes, this time with a different purpose.

"It doesn't seem like he is ready to give up yet" was the only answer given by the examiner.

"Sorry deadlast, but it appears it was your fate to die at my hands" said Neji before rushing forward at his top speed with his hand poised to strike " But don't worry, I'll be sure to make it quick.".

Time, however, ceased to have any meaning to the sitting fighter for as soon as the older genin's words reached his ears he found himself in a dark ominous corridor with a layer of dirty water on the floor that reached his calves. Naruto prided himself in never again have succumbed to fear after his encounter with the Mist's Demon Brothers however finding himself in this poorly lit place without a single sound surrounding him made cold sweat run down his skin, specially once he identified that the feeling that made the atmosphere surrounding him unbelivably uncomfortable was barely veiled killing intent. Not being one to break his promisses, even the one he made to himself about never again being a "scaredy-cat", Naruto ignored his rapidly beating heart, disappearing down the damp corridor, following the sensation he identified as his red chakra.

**The End**

**AN2: Sorry to disapoint anyone that actually enjoyed this and was looking forward for more but writting isn't really my forte, I have neither the patience nor the eloquence to make a long running story, even this took a lot more from my grey matter and time than I expected, though in retrospect I think that for someone that hasn't written a narrative since 6th grade and decided to do it in a language that isn't his first, it didn't turn out so bad. Anyhow, I wouldn't mind if anyone actually made a continuation for this, just give me a heads up so I can read it too. For anyone looking for good adventure fics about Naruto take a look at Kenchi618's profile, his stories are really well written, specially the fighting scenes, just a warning though, they are rated M for a reason.**

Explanations:

-In the manga it's said that during Sage Mode Naruto can only do a limited number of clones because a large amount would disrupt the Sage Chakra, so I figured that it was a good idea to use them as a reversal for the toad petrification process.

-Regarding the number of Shadow Clones that Naruto is able to use while on Sage Mode I used his fight with Pain as reference. In it Naruto created at most three of them to fight, however he only did that once the first one of the two he had gathering Narutal Energy was dispelled, while both were still "alive" he only used two of them to fight. Since I'm using the original to sustain Sage Mode I had all four free for fighting.

-The toad Kosutsuki is an OC based on the toad Kosuke, being his older brother and thus being able to talk.


End file.
